General Mills Wants Trans Fat Class Action Lawsuit Tossed

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

General Mills recently told a federal court that a trans fat class action lawsuit they face is “unmistakably” preempted.

General Mills Inc. argued that a section of the Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2016 “unmistakably preempts” a proposed class action lawsuit alleging that their baking mixes are unsafe because they contain partially hydrogenated oils containing trans fat.

The statute in question prevents foods made with partially hydrogenated oils from being deemed “unsafe” or “adulterated” through June 18, 2018, the date companies are required to stop using the ingredient. General Mills argues that the statute preempts the state law claims brought by plaintiff Troy Backus.

“No partially hydrogenated oils […] and no food that is introduced or delivered for introduction into interstate commerce that bears or contains a partially hydrogenated oil shall be deemed adulterated […] by virtue of bearing or containing a partially hydrogenated oil until the compliance date as specified in such order,” the statue states.

According to the company, every court that has interpreted the statute has found that it preempts state law claims concerning foods’ inclusion of partially hydrogenated oils. “Courts have noted that these PHO-based lawsuits are precisely the kind of ‘frivolous’ litigation that Congress meant to bar when it passed Section 754,” General Mills said.

In the initial argument, Backus included that the FDA believes “that state or local laws that prohibit or limit use of PHOs in food are not likely to be in conflict with federal law, or to frustrate federal objectives.” However, General Mills argues that this statement by the FDA does not undermine the federal statues which allegedly protect the company. “The statement is not a finding, only a comment, and an ambiguous one at best,” the court stated previously.

According to the motion, in the sentence immediately preceding the statement cited by Backus, the FDA actually “decline[d] to take a position regarding the potential for implied preemptive effect of this order on any specific state or local law; as such matter must be analyzed with respect to the specific relationship between the state or local law and the federal law.”

Backus filed the suit against General Mills alleging that their baking mixes were not “safe” and were “adulterated” because they contain partially hydrogenated oils. The class action argues that the inclusion of partially hydrogenated oils violate California business laws, is a breach of warranty, and is a public nuisance.

The case against General Mills was halted in August 2015 to wait for a ruling by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about whether partially hydrogenated oils in small amounts were exempt from an earlier decision to ban them. The stay on the case was temporarily lifted to allow General Mills to argue for the dismissal of Backus’ claims that partially hydrogenated oils could cause heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s.

Backus is represented by Gregory S. Weston and Andrew C. Hamilton of The Weston Firm.

The General Mills Baking Mixes Class Action Lawsuit is Backus, et al. v. General Mills Inc., et al., Case No. 3:15-cv-01964, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On Dec. 10, 2018, a California federal judge threw out a class action lawsuit alleging that General Mills baking mixes are unsafe because they contain trans fats.